This is an analysis of the seemingly endless tale of the satellite canteen trash crisis. This I believe is the epicentre of the campus wide problem on proper waste disposal.
The Satellite canteen near the Stc Building has been the subject of criticism about what we desperately lack as a community - a deep sense of ownership and cleanliness. It is a common scene where students just leave their leftovers waiting for the canteen personnel or even for the next occupiers to clean up after them. Countless entries on social media especially on facebook have lambasted these kinds of behaviour and countless initiatives had been launched from the students to the formation units to counter this social behaviour. But in all of these efforts, it seem like nothing has taken deep lasting effect.
As I mentioned in my first line, this is a simple analysis and recommendation which I hope can compel our authorities to reflect and act in solving this community problem.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The premise of this analysis is anchored in what psychologists call the Fundamental Attribution Error. This theory states the tendency to overvalue personality based explanation while undervaluing situational explanation for those behaviours or the environment in which the behaviour operates. This simply means that character does not have a significant bearing in one’s actions as much as the external environment. If you read much of the reactions students post online about this matter, more than 50% directly blame the background, the upbringing or the apathetic strain of those who leave their plates on the table. This theory brings in a significant change of perspective on how we look at this problem. It is not so much of what level of consciousness that they have, rather it is the condition of their surroundings that affect their behaviour. This will then lead me to my next point.
Broken Windows Theory
In criminology, broken windows theory describes how broken windows actually invite people to commit crimes because it signifies a neighbourhood with no one in charge, no one responsible to replace the windows, or no one seems to care. This picture actually invites crimes. This means that an unwelcoming environment welcomes the unwelcomed. This theory has some sort of parallel application to our own case in the canteen. Students when asked what they generally feel when eating or staying in the canteen, they have expressed a degree of disgust and discomfort in the whole canteen set up. The heat, produced by the plastic roof and the hard cement floor added up with the moisture, congestion, the long lines, the small tables and uncomfortable plastic seats contribute to this atmosphere of untidiness. Even seeing the actual cooking of the food and the odd scent of the air contribute to this “communal feeling”. It is not so much of the trash scattering around but the feeling itself seems dirty as one pointed out. This feeling my not completely register into the students’ minds as something appalling creeping into their pores but it is a subtle invitation for the occupants to be also untidy. The surroundings actually invite us to be untidy.
Time and Motion Study
Given that the students do bring their plates to the proper dispensers, it actually requires a substantial amount of effort. By average, it requires around 35 steps or about 20 seconds from point A to the dispensers located at the sides of the canteen. The dispensers’ location in itself is problematic. It is placed near an eating table. It is not in a relatively open area that can accommodate a number of students. Students naturally clump their tables together and form circles that distort the traffic flow. This might not seem to be a hard effort but navigating through the congestion in the peak lunch hour is clearly a disincentive. The stalls at the central area perpendicular to the main selling area contribute to this obscure traffic flow. The set up actually opens multiple buying points (which creates lines/crowds) per stall that is also perpendicular to the eating area. There are micro intersection points all around the canteen. This produces traffic which adds moisture, disorder, and untidiness.
Conclusion
I do believe that if we just work on putting order and cleanliness in the canteen infrastructure, the rest of the students will follow in its cleanliness. The tipping point in this case is to improve the physical setup of the canteen. I sense that a clean canteen with clean walls and clean processes can carry its cleanliness beyond its walls into our pavilions, our kiosks and our benches. Let us see the canteen as the central social hub of the campus. It is in the canteen where students mostly interact, exchange ideas, and transmit behaviours without the rigid structure of the classroom. Revolutions can start here. And a green one is just waiting to be born. It is fascinating to see even in our temporary satellite canteen, we can extract a substantial amount of science and social dynamics. Though this is temporary, the satellite canteen serves as a reminder for policy makers on the importance and power of context in making changes. Just by fixing at the margin such as fixing traffic flow, and cooking procedures, we can spark a green revolution in campus. This might work. The soon to rise Magis Complex that will house the new canteen is an interesting venue for the next BIG THING – The green revolution.
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